The Wabash River has been integral part of life in New Harmony for hundreds of years. In 1815, the Harmonists, New Harmony’s first utopian society, built a dam on the river to power their grist mill. They also transported their goods to be sold throughout the United States and overseas on boats that began on the Wabash.
For most New Harmony residents today, the Wabash River is a source of recreation and a center of social gathering. A popular gathering spot along the river is the Old Dam, a group of natural rock formations that emerge when the river is low to create pools, rapids, and small waterfalls. Limestone from this area was once quarried by the Harmonists and used as the foundation for their buildings. Today, residents and visitors alike enjoy swimming, fishing, and kayaking in this unique location.
The Old Dam began as a center of recreation in New Harmony well over a century ago. Photos from as early as the 1890s show families and friends gathering at the Old Dam for fishing, swimming, picnicking, and family portraits.
The Old Dam continued to be a popular recreation site throughout the 20th century. Postcards from the 1920s and 30s show people standing on the rock formations while reeling in fish. The captions claimed that the area is “home of bass, crappie, channel cat and white perch” and advertised cottages and tent spaces for rent.
Today, the Old Dam site is a popular spot for water recreation such as fishing, swimming, canoeing, kayaking. It is said to be one of the best swimming holes east of the Mississippi and one of the most abundant fishing spots in southwest Indiana. Reminders of its long-lived popularity can still be seen in the decades old graffiti found on the site: generations of names carved into some of the large boulders along the Old Dam.
]]>At over 500 miles long and spanning the entire length of Indiana, the Wabash River is the largest river in the state. More than 65% of Hoosiers live within its watershed and the Wabash and its tributaries provide drinking water for 72% of counties in Indiana.
A super gage in New Harmony was installed in 2019 on the New Harmony Way Bridge across the Wabash River to measure water quality every 15 minutes, 365 days a year. Managed by the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the gage monitors the temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and nitrate and phosphate levels of Indiana’s largest river. This data helps to improve the river’s water quality and helps us better understand how to reduce the river’s nutrient loads before it is carried downriver by the Mississippi River and contributes to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.
The super gage also keeps track of the height of the river’s water level to monitor for flooding. Floods occur every few years, with the most extensive recent flooding happening in 2011 when the Wabash River reached a gage height of 23.73 feet.
One of the most damaging floods in New Harmony’s history occurred in March 1913 when the river crested at 27.7 feet. In a period of just two days, several states including, Indiana experienced, two to three months’ worth of rain. The Wabash River usually averages 231 feet wide, but the flood of 1913 left the river almost seven miles wide (over 30,000 feet). Another devastating flood occurred in January 1930. This flood was unique in that the heavy rainfall occurred during subzero temperatures, creating ice gorges stretching several miles wide along the Wabash River. The ice turned what would normally be a mild flood into a disastrous one. Ice dams increased the flooding and caused significant damage to farms and homes throughout the county.
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